Assessment of attitudes and knowledge of general dental practitioners in providing implant maintenance

Abstract

This study aimed to survey the attitudes and knowledge of Thai general dental practitioners (GDPs) in proving dental implant maintenance care. The online questionnaire was sent to Thai GDPs who graduated between 2000 and 2016. Of the returned 435 questionnaires, 429 completely filled were included for analysis. 76% of the participants were female and 24% were male. Half of the participants were aged 28-33 years old and 78% of the participants have been working as a GDP 10 years or below. There were 64.3% and 59.4% of the participants who agreed that dental implant surgery and restoration should only be obligated by specialists. Moreover, 22.4% agreed that dental implant maintenance care should be performed by specialists. The majority of the participants (88.5%) reported their willingness to give comprehensive oral examination on natural teeth and implant, only half of them (51%) would provide dental implant maintenance care. Significant positive correlation between attitudes and knowledge of the participants were found. GDPs tended to provide implant maintenance care according to their knowledge score. However, GDPs still felt less confident to provide dental implant maintenance care and treat the implant problems. These obstacles may be due to insufficient knowledge and not well-equipped practice setting.